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Thread: Which is the best Antivirus

  1. #1
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    Which is the best Antivirus

    Hi,

    Can any one tell me Which Antivirus is Good For Home User's i am using Symantec Antiviruse 10.0v. so please tell me which antiviruse is good for home user's I Rarely use the Internet. So Please Help Me.

  2. #2
    If you rarely use the internet there is no real basis for you having a virus scanner. The normal way you get a virus is through contact with the internet. Symantic is decent. I have a dislike of it simply because I think it takes up entirely too much space. But, it is a fine virus scanner. McAfee is also decent. Can't remember if norton and symantic are still in that contract but, if they aren't norton should be also. They've always been decent. There are free virus scanners such as AVG. Which I have always liked.

  3. #3
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    I am of the opinion that if you have access to the internet for even 1 minute, if you read your e-mail from that computer, or if you allow anyone but yourself access to the computer, or if you decide to pop in random disks you find on the street, then you are open for a virus. Granted, I don't think it would be the end of the world, there is no reason to NOT have some free anti-virus running in the background. And I have the perfect one for you, AVG, mentioned in the post before, is the best in my humble opinion. It is free, it updates itself regularly and quickly, and from what I have seen so far it keeps me fairly clean of viruses. Its autodetect thinga majig catches stuff without me actually actively scanning. I still do a regular scan every now and then to catch the small stuff that slips by. The biggest trouble I have had out of viruses is them infecting Java files and whatnot...don't know what this means, but...yeah. Anyways, AVG, can't go wrong with it.

  4. #4
    cowbaal, in theory you should have a virus scanner and a full security setup and all updates if you even use a computer. The problem with this theory is it's impraticle. Think about all the resources you are wasting simply to run these programs. If you jump on the internet to check your email once every 3 months and you don't accept emails from sadaam, osama and kevin. You should be good. Of course you can get a virus from a friend that doesn't know they are sending it to you. But, in all honesty most viruses I have come across aren't simply just to try to destroy your computer, they want info.

    And if your on the internet for 10 seconds the time its gonna take that virus to install and gather all the information that it wants is going to exceed the time your on the internet. I am not suggesting that you run without one if you use your email or w/e periodically. But, if you have no use for the internet. Then there is no need. And cow. There is an old saying if someone touches your computer you're already screwed. By that time you are too late and your virus scanner isn't going to do much.

  5. #5
    The ******* Shadow dalek's Avatar
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    Re: Which is the best Antivirus

    Originally posted here by D3V!L
    Hi,

    Can any one tell me Which Antivirus is Good For Home User's i am using Symantec Antiviruse 10.0v. so please tell me which antiviruse is good for home user's I Rarely use the Internet. So Please Help Me.
    You can read the reviews of some of them here: AntiVirus Reviews and see what best suits your purposes, also you can find some very useful "Free" versions like AVG or
    AVAST

    Like the previous posters recommend....practise "safe hex"...
    PC Registered user # 2,336,789,457...

    "When the water reaches the upper level, follow the rats."
    Claude Swanson

  6. #6
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Hmmmm,

    I would suggest that in the current climate a firewall probably does more than a traditional AV scanner.

    My version of AVG on this box has found two in 18 months.......and both of those are .txt files, so they must have been sent to me for analysis.

    Current attacks seem to be backdoors, worms, trojans and spyware.

    I do run an AV, but I guess that is more out of habit than anything else. I know people who don't and just regularly use online scanners like PC-Cillin and Panda.

    I tend to use Firefox with the script blocking plug-in rather than IE, which i think is a help. I have also set IE to prompt regarding ActiveX, scripts and so on. I also set my browser to clear down on closing and the history and Java cache to 0.

    If I have a dubious file I send it to Virus Total and Jotti for analysis as they use a variety of scanners.

    I also use Spybot Search&Destroy, AdAware SE, EWIDO and A-squared which find a few odds and ends from time to time.

    I guess I can see the logic behind linlover929's argument, particularly if you practise safe computing.

    Incidentally AFAIK Norton was bought by Symantec a while back. It certainly works adequately, but I agree again that it has become very bloated. I am not so worried about the size, as the amount of resource that it hogs.

    A few weeks ago an American consumer magazine did a survey of anti-malware products and caused a real stink when they got some outfit to write them 5,000 (?) new nasties based on the style of existing stuff. The results were less than comforting, I assure you

  7. #7
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    In this land of 3Ghz processors I am not at all worried about giving up a few cycles to my antivirus in addition to the 10mb of ram it elects to use. In addition the comment about the only way a person can get a virus from the internet is blatantly false as you can get a virus from any shared media. Those sources include cd-roms, usb flash drives, floppys ... etc. If your computer runs any flavor of Windows you would be wise to run antivirus.

  8. #8
    I was wondering the same, but I'm more concerned with how many processes will be opened when the app loads. Currently, I'm running McAffee Interent Security Suite (it came with the system), and I count 7 running processes, taking up ~38 MB of RAM. I also have the firewall installed/operational in addition to the AV, and I have no real complaints, other than the fact that I once received a pop-up from the system tray telling me that I can upgrade to some new security software for a discounted price...this is why I am currently researching (yet again) alternatives.

  9. #9
    AO's MMA Fanatic! Computernerd22's Avatar
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    Hi,

    Can any one tell me Which Antivirus is Good For Home User's i am using Symantec Antiviruse 10.0v. so please tell me which antiviruse is good for home user's I Rarely use the Internet. So Please Help Me.
    Most important thing, make sure your Anti-Virus definition files are up-to-date at all times to detect the latest virus threats, that is. BTW, IMO AVG is one of the better *free* ones. Also, doesnt take a lot of system resources or memory usuage

    avgamsvr.exe 1740 Console 0 3,972 K
    avgupsvc.exe 1788 Console 0 1,340 K
    avgemc.exe 1876 Console 0 4,724 K

  10. #10
    The Doctor Und3ertak3r's Avatar
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    Can't remember if norton and symantic are still in that contract
    NOrton is owned by Symantec.. they are one and the same

    [quote]In this land of 3Ghz processors I am not at all worried about giving up a few cycles to my antivirus[quote]
    Well this is true.. what is of concern isnt the number but more the percentage..
    I tested Trends security suite offering, recently, on my 3.2Ghs dual core toy.. cPU was at 25-30% while it was in live protect mode.. disabled,,, Dont need that.. would idle at 3-5% without

    Currently testing CA's e-Trust 2006, it is a bit better.. certainly not as bad as the Trend ... with live monitor, it spikes every 5 seconds at 21% but drops to 1%.. havent tested the cause of this..

    These suites are not just ANTIVIRUS.. AV alone in a typical home is false security..
    Most Home/Domestic/standalone PC - Joe average usage - Require the following for self protection..
    Firewall - Just important
    Email scan - as important as FW.. this is/was the most common vector
    Adware/Spyware protection - Second most common vector for attack
    Website and content filtering (keep you away from the known bad sites) equal 2nd most common vector
    Anti Spam
    IM protection
    Live monitoring.. (incase you move an infected to you pc over the home network or from your Jump drive or CD)

    All these tools chew your system resources.. enabling and disabling these at your risk.. but you will find your usage situation and style will require more or less emphasis in each area.. some will not be required..
    Inside a well firewalled network will require some local firewall in place.. this is to protect from internal to network attack vectors..

    Personally I use AVG on my home PC's and the Windows firewall, I have a IPCOP Firewall with SNORT, a smallish Hosts file - aprx 80k, Spyware blaster, CCleaner. once in a while I will run a BartPE cd (with extra tools) on the machines to check out the Rootkit status and look for extra bugs that normal scanns and cleans miss.
    Oh and all are updated ASAP.. windows and AV and misc spy/adware

    Best AntiMalware is user knowledge and caution..
    Knowledge that a website cant do a full benchmarking on your PC
    That Codec that you need DOSENT NEED XYZ media player installed to play.. Same with that website with that p0rn clip.. In other words.. watch what you install, not all that glitters is Gold
    If you randomly send/forward Crap emails to your friends, expect to recieve crap infected emails from ppl pretending to be your friends.
    "Consumer technology now exceeds the average persons ability to comprehend how to use it..give up hope of them being able to understand how it works." - Me http://www.cybercrypt.co.nr

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